Morning Break: PML and Fingolimod; Humor on Twitter

Health news and commentary from around the Web, gathered by the MedPage Today staff.

by MedPage Today Staff

Welcome to Morning Break, MedPage Today's daily guide to what's new and interesting on the web for healthcare providers. Got a tip? Send it to us at MPT_editorial@everydayhealthinc.com.

The FDA reported this morning that a patient in Europe taking the MS drug fingolimod (Gilenya) has developed PML, the life-threatening brain infection. Check back later this morning for more details.

The nation's office of drug control announced the release of an Opioid Overdose Toolkit to help slash mortality from drug overdoses. The agency wants the overdose reversal agent naloxone "in the patrol cars of every law enforcement professional across the nation."

More evidence of the nation's sleep woes: In a federal survey, some 4% of American adults reported using a prescription sleep aid in the previous month. And that doesn't count the estimated millions who use over-the-counter medicines or home remedies like chamomile tea.

Teaching hospitals will now be included in the American Medical Student Association's annual conflict-of-interest scorecard. Its methodology also gets a makeover in order to better capture the nuances of each institution's policies, with a score range of 1 to 5 instead of 0 to 3.

British researchers are testing the hypothesis that eating special "super-charged" broccoli -- bred to contain large quantities of joint-protective nutrients -- may help protect against osteoarthritis.

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